The new stand attracted everyone's attention, but no one moved just yet, too caught up in a multilayered mutual inspection.
Lancelot still stared at Liam, while Isabel warily stood at his side. Robert also shared that feeling, his expressive eyes darting over his teammates while always returning to the basin.
Instead, Liam looked at the tome, then matched Lancelot's heated stare, before glancing at Julian from under the hood, the gesture earning him his gaze.
"Fellow Daoist, I apologize for acting so late," Julian smiled, cupping his fist at Liam. "I believed my intervention was unnecessary."
Julian was right, and his performance was perfect, but it smelled off nonetheless, and for reasons Liam didn't need to think about to understand. After all, he had gone through a similar reasoning.
Secrets were powerful, especially in terms of weapons. They could catch enemies by surprise or directly prevent the latter from attempting anything, wary of what their potential target possessed.
